Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In the 1830s, when a brave and curious girl named Elizabeth Blackwell was growing up, women were supposed to be wives and mothers. Some women could be teachers or seamstresses, but career options were few. Certainly no women were doctors.

But Elizabeth refused to accept the common beliefs that women werent smart enough to be doctors, or that they were too weak for such hard work. And she would not take no for an answer. Although she faced much opposition, she worked hard and finally&#8212;when she graduated from medical school and went on to have a brilliant career&#8212;proved her detractors wrong. This inspiring story of the first female doctor shows how one strong-willed woman opened the doors for all the female doctors to come.

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone is an NPR Best Book of 2013

Review:

"'You might find this hard to believe, but there once was a time when girls weren't allowed to become doctors,' opens this smart and lively biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America. Stone develops Blackwell's personality through childhood anecdotes — as a child Blackwell once slept on a hard floor just 'to toughen herself up' — before detailing her career path. Priceman's typically graceful lines and bright gouache paintings make no bones about who's on the wrong side of history: those who object to Blackwell's achievements are portrayed as hawkish ladies and comically perturbed twerps in tailcoats. Ages 5 — up. Author's agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Synopsis:

In this picture book bursting with vibrance and rhythm,and#160;a girl dreams ofand#160;playing the drumsand#160;in 1930s Cuba, when the music-filled island had a taboo against female drummers.

Synopsis:

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an islandand#160;filled withand#160;music, no one questioned that ruleandmdash;until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongandoacute;s. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

About the Author

Tanya Lee Stone loves to write about women pushing boundaries where no woman has before, in books like Elizabeth Leads the Way, Almost Astronauts,and now Who Says Women Cant Be Doctors? Her work has received such accolades as the ALA Robert F. Sibert Award, SCBWI Golden Kite Award, Bank Streets Flora Steiglitz Straus Award, and the Jane Addams Childrens Book, Boston Globe-Horn Book, and NCTE Orbis Pictus honors.

Marjorie Priceman has twice received Caldecott Honors, one for her illustrations in Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! and one for Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride, which she both wrote and illustrated. She lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"'You might find this hard to believe, but there once was a time when girls weren't allowed to become doctors,' opens this smart and lively biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America. Stone develops Blackwell's personality through childhood anecdotes — as a child Blackwell once slept on a hard floor just 'to toughen herself up' — before detailing her career path. Priceman's typically graceful lines and bright gouache paintings make no bones about who's on the wrong side of history: those who object to Blackwell's achievements are portrayed as hawkish ladies and comically perturbed twerps in tailcoats. Ages 5 — up. Author's agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,

In this picture book bursting with vibrance and rhythm,and#160;a girl dreams ofand#160;playing the drumsand#160;in 1930s Cuba, when the music-filled island had a taboo against female drummers.

"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an islandand#160;filled withand#160;music, no one questioned that ruleandmdash;until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongandoacute;s. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

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